The present invention relates to a device for simultaneously protecting a golf club grip and a golfer""s hands and golf glove from rain to assure a proper firm and unimpaired grip when swinging the golf club. More specifically, the present invention is a loose fitting tubular-shaped sleeve, made of a flexible, clear material, that hangs down from the golfer""s wrists where the present invention is closely fit to seal and shield the grip of a golf club and a golfer""s hands and golf glove from rain during the course of play.
Golf is an outdoor sport that requires players to repeatedly execute controlled and aimed swings of clubs, and, therefore, it is a game best played during warm, dry weather. The weather, however, cannot be controlled and some play over any reasonable number of days will have to be done or finished in the rain. A principal disadvantage suffered by players attempting to swing clubs in the rain is that their hands and golf gloves as well as club gripping surfaces, even if those surfaces are repeatedly wiped dry, get wet which reduces a player""s ability to adequately control their club swings. So when a player is forced to play in the rain, that player can have an improved score if his hands, golf club gripping surface and golf glove are kept dry when gripping and swinging the club, or during other course of play.
Irrefutably, the problem of trying to keep golfers"" hands protected from inclement weather has long been recognized, but despite such recognition, it is a problem that previously has not been effectively addressed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,005 describes a two-handed glove or mittenxe2x80x94a warming devicexe2x80x94to supposedly protect golfers"" hands from the cold. This described two-handed mitten device is supposed to be constructed to include a central hand portion, a separate wrist portion, and an opening for a golf club shaft. The wrist portion is described as having two openings positioned to receive the player""s hands along lines of direction which approximately cross the opening for the golf club shaft to form the vertex of an acute angel at the club shaft opening which opening accordingly is sized at about the same diameter as golf club shafts, i.e., relatively small in size. Further, the material from which this two-handed mitten is to be made is described as soft cloth, leather, plastic or other material suitable for regular gloves or mittens. Unavoidably the two-handed devices described in this prior patent have numerous deficiencies preventing effective solution of the problem of protecting a golfer""s hands from the rain while swinging a golf club, including the facts that the cloth, leather and even many plastic materials from which the two-handed mittens are supposed to be made as specified in the patent are not transparent and therefore golfers could not check their hand positioning on the club shaft grips to assure they have properly gripped their clubs for effecting and controlling their swings. A visual check of the positions of a golfer""s hands gripping a golf club is imperative in order that the golfer effects the proper controlled swing of the club. A golfer using this two-handed mitten made from an opaque material would have to exclusively rely on feel without visual assistance to adjust hand positioning on the club shaft grip which most likely would result in inaccurate contact of the club head with a golf ball. Other unavoidable deficiencies include a complete lack of structures or arrangements to closely fit the two-handed mittens to each of a player""s wrists and thereby prevent water from leaking onto the hands, and also as described in the patent and discussed above, the two-handed mitten has a substantially restricted opening for golf club shafts that makes passing golf club shafts into and through the opening to the golfer""s hands unwieldy because, as a practical matter, such a manipulation is unavoidably awkward and distracting in the course of play.
Another attempted solution for the problem of protecting golfers"" hands from inclement weather is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,956. Here a supposed golf glove with rain shield is described as having a golf glove fitted with an outer covering to form a shield that has a first opening to permit entry of a golf club shaft. According to the patent, both the glove and the shield covering are attachable to the wrist of the golfer, and to achieve this arrangement the upper edge of the shield covering can be sewingly fixed to the upper periphery of the glove wrist band or the shield covering could be removably attached about the periphery of a golf glove""s wrist band by use of Velcro brand interlocking strips. Again, as in the prior described device, the opening for golf club shafts in the shield covering of this device is shown as essentially being of the same diameter as that of the club shafts. There is no discussion that the shield covering of this device must be transparent to permit a golfer to visually check the positioning of his hands on a club shaft, but according to the patent, the shield covering can be made from a water-proofed fabric or a water-resistant material such as a thin vinyl sheet, all of which could be opaque. This golf glove with rain shield does not overcome the deficiencies of the earlier discussed two-handed mitten device with the possible exception of being made of a clear material to permit visual checking of the hand positioning on the golf club grip. Unavoidable deficiencies include, for example, the impracticality of its use, particularly as a golf glove attachment, because of the inherent bulk of the combined device, with the further deficiency of either having to alter a golf glove with some type of attachment devices for fixing a cover shield to the glove or actually sewing a cover to the glove. This last listed deficiency is critically important because golfers are particularly sensitive to the size, make and type of the glove on their gloved hand. A golfer""s glove must fit tightly to the hand. The above discussed patent discloses a device meant to be attached to golf gloves which becomes unavoidably cumbersome, and eliminates a wide variety of individual glove choice.
All of these deficiencies are overcome by the present invention, including ensuring that golfers have complete freedom to choose the best fitting gloves from the many that are currently on the market, and substantial benefits not achievable with the prior devices are also realized.
According to the present invention a tubular-shaped skirt of flexible, water-resistant, transparent material, e.g., plastic, is used to cover a golfer""s wrists, hands, glove and the gripping surface of the golf club shaft being used. The bottom portion of the skirt is open in poncho fashion and the top portion is sealed closed except for wrist openings that fit snugly about the golfer""s wrists to thereby prevent the golfer""s hands, glove and the club gripping surface from getting wet. The fitting of the present invention to a golfer""s wrists can be accomplished using a variety of different structures. For example, a continuous piece of elastic expandable material or even multiple pieces of expandable material can be attached about a double wrist opening at the top of the skirt of the invention sized to accept both of a player""s wrists, and this elasticized opening can be fitted about both of the golfer""s wrists to form essentially water tight seals. Alternatively, separate openings can be provided in the top of the skirt to accommodate the golfers two wrists and thereby form essentially water tight seals. Combinations can also be used with the present invention such as an adjustable flap that could have Velcro brand interlocking material attached to the flap and a portion of the skirt to fix the length of the flap about a golfer""s wrist for providing the essentially water tight seal about one of the golfer""s wrists and an elastic or expandable material attached to the skirt about the other opening to form a second essentially water-tight seal.
Features of the present invention include (i) use of a flexible, transparent material formed in a tubular-shape as a skirt for complete poncho like covering of a golfer""s hands, glove and the gripping surface of a golf club shaft held by the golfer, and (ii) a system to form essentially water-tight seals for the skirt about the golfer""s wrists. Additionally, there is an ample opening at the bottom of the skirt through which the club shaft is placed that is sufficiently large thereby making it easy to place the golf club in the golfer""s hands. Concurrent with the size of the opening at the bottom of the skirt for the golf club shaft is the requirement that the length of the skirt be sufficient to completely cover the golfer""s hands, glove and the club gripping surface to shield them from getting wet. A uniqueness of the present invention is that it fits and is useable for both right or left handed golfers. A golfer simply places the gloved hand in the correct opening and the other hand is placed in the remaining opening.